The number of teens who visit the emergency room due to caffeine overdose has doubled in the past years, according to a new report.
The study, released Monday by Epic Research, looked at the records of 223 million emergency department visits by patients aged 11 to 35 from 2017 to 2023.
Researchers found that the rate of visits due to eating or drinking too much caffeine more than doubled among middle schoolers (aged 11 to 14) from 3.1 per 100,000 visits in 2017 to 6.5 per 100,000 visits last year.
Additionally, emergency room visits for caffeine overdose among high school-aged children (aged 15 to 18) nearly doubled over the same period, increasing from 7.4 per 100,000 visits in 2017 to 13.6 per 100,000 visits in 2023.
In comparison, the rate only increased from 9.3 to 9.5 per 100,000 visits among college-aged students and from 5.6 to 5.8 per 100,000 visits among young adults.
Caffeine-Related Emergencies Differ Between Genders
The study found that the rate of caffeine-related visits to the emergency room tripled among boys than girls. Specifically, it increased from 3.2 per 100,000 visits to 7.4 per 100,000 visits among middle school-aged boys; and from 8.4 per 100,000 visits to 19.2 per 100,000 visits for high-school-aged boys.
Among girls, there was a notable spike in caffeine-related ER visits in 2021, with 13.2 per 100,000 visits among middle schoolers and 11.0 per 100,000 visits among high schoolers. The rate has since fallen to 5.7 and 9.4, respectively.
Why Is There a Rise in Caffeine-Related Emergency Room Visits?
The new study comes months after a poll from the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital found that nearly a quarter of parents said caffeine and other stimulants are part of their teenager's daily diet. While most parents (43%) said the consumption is only because caffeine is present in their teen's favorite products, at least 18% said it helps their teen stay awake during the day, and 13% said it helps their child with studying or focus.
The most common sources of caffeine cited in the poll included soda (73%), tea (32%), coffee (31%), and energy drinks (22%).
